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Dr. King preached his final Sunday sermon at Washington National Cathedral on March 31, 1968- just days before his assassination. His text: "Behold, I make all things new."
"There is still a voice crying through the vista of time saying "'Behold, I make all things new...'"-MLK
"There is still a voice crying through the vista of time saying "'Behold, I make all things new...'"-MLK
The following are some important themes he raised in that final sermon, a window into his thoughts just before his murder...
"It is an unhappy truth that racism is a way of life for the vast majority of white Americans, spoken and unspoken, acknowledged and denied, subtle and sometimes not so subtle—the disease of racism permeates and poisons a whole body politic."
"And I can see nothing more urgent than for America to work passionately and unrelentingly—to get rid of the disease of racism. Something positive must be done."
"Everyone must share in the guilt as individuals and as institutions. The government must certainly share the guilt; individuals must share the guilt; even the church must share the guilt."
"Through our scientific and technological genius, we have made of this world a neighborhood and yet we have not had the ethical commitment to make of it a brotherhood... We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools."
"[Time]can be used either constructively or destructively... And it may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people...
"Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God."
At the close of this sermon he says, "Let me close by saying that we have difficult days ahead in the struggle for justice and peace, but I will not yield to a politic of despair. I’m going to maintain hope..."
"Thank God for John, who centuries ago out on a lonely, obscure island called Patmos caught vision of a new Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, who heard a voice saying, "Behold, I make all things new..."
His final benediction: "God grant that we will be participants in this newness and this magnificent development." Amen, Dr. King. Amen.
